Dec. 4, 2010

Box Score

NEW ORLEANS - Saint Joseph's freshman guard Erin Shields banked in a shot at the buzzer to force overtime and the Hawks pulled away in the extra frame, downing Detroit, 77-70, Saturday evening in the second day of the Big Easy Classic at Tulane University's Fogelman Arena.

The Hawks, who led 56-52 with 2:58 left in the game, saw Detroit take a 58-56 lead on a Jalesa Jones shot from the foul line with 6.2 seconds left.

Off a time out, Shields got the ball at her own foul line and drove the length of the court, putting up a jumpr down the right side of the lane that banked in and through the netting as time expired to force overtime.

In the extra frame, Saint Joseph's took control early and never relinquished it. The Hawks went 4-of-6 from the field and 11-of-12 from the foul line, outscoring the Titans 19-12 in the extra frame to improve to 4-3 on the year.

Saint Joseph's quickly jumped out to a 7-2 advantage to start the game, but Detroit opened up a seven-point lead behind a 16-4 run as the Titans knocked down 7-of-10 from the floor.

Trailing 25-14 with less than four minutes to go in the half, Saint Joseph's offense clicked as the Hawks ended the stanza with a 12-3 run to cut Detroit's lead to 28-26. Junior guard Michelle Baker and freshman forward Ilze Gotfrida combined for 10 of SJU's 12 points as the Hawks hit six-straight baskets to make it a one-possession game.

Individually, Baker scored a career-best 21 points, while Gotfrida and Shields added 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Jones finished with 21 points for Detroit (3-3)

Saint Joseph's caps its seven-game road swing Tuesday as the Hawks open the Big 5 portion of their schedule at Penn. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at the Palestra.